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Friday, January 31, 2014

Yesterday around 12:30, Lance and the big kids set off on an adventure to go get Lance’s car. We bundled everyone up and off they went.

Hayes and I stayed home in the warm house! I didn’t really want Sam to go because he had been so sick all week but he didn’t have a fever in the morning and seemed to be fine.

It was so funny to see them all walk off through the woods. Lance said Sam was a slow poke and wouldn’t stay with them.

Once they got to the ballpark, the kids ran the bases on the baseball field. Lance said it was pretty because it was untouched…until our kids got there. I think the walk and the run at the park did Sam in because he had a fever the rest of the afternoon. After Lance got home with his car, we took Amy her van back because they didn’t have a car at home. Her husband had abandoned his car and walked the last two miles home. We then went through the CFA drive thru because we just wanted to be out of the house.

This morning I told the kids that this would probably be the last day the snow was here because it was going to warm up this weekend. We decided it would be fun to go and play. This was the first time I had taken Hayes out to play.

Hayes, of course, loved being outside and the snow didn’t phase him at all. He sat it in, walked on it, ate it, and just enjoyed being outside.

I was worried his hands were getting super cold and wet but he accidentally took a glove off and his hand was not too cold or wet.

Sam woke up with no fever again this morning and I am hoping we have turned a corner with him. He was not happy when we first got outside because he couldn’t find his gloves. I told him his hands were going to be really cold if he touched the snow. He said, “I don’t care!” Well, as soon as he did that he started crying that his hands were cold. Reese kindly went inside to get him some socks to put on his hands and he had fun after that.

We made a few snowballs but the snow really didn’t stick and we definitely couldn’t make a snowman.

I think Hayes would play outside even in the pouring down rain, a hurricane, or a huge snow storm.

Reese said, “Let’s take a picture to show the snow.” But you can’t see it in Sam’s hands because of the white socks. Ha!

I am glad they were able to get out in the snow one more time because it will probably be another three years before we see it again!

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

We were so excited Tuesday morning when it started snowing. I had to run to Costco with the boys (Sam was home sick from school) and while we were there the flurries started. On my way home I heard that Reese’s school would be getting out two hours early. When Reese got off the bus at 12:20 the snow was coming down at a nice pace but wasn’t covering much. She was super excited to see the snow and she said they only did snow stuff at school. Once inside I put both boys down for a nap and got a call from my friend, Amy, who was stranded in the front of my neighborhood and was headed to my house in a neighbors truck. She was headed to pick her son up from preschool (the same school Sam goes to). She was able to have someone else pick him up from school and it took that lady four hours to go the five miles there and back! At 1:00 Lance called and said he was headed home. He asked what the roads looked like and I sent him this picture and told him Amy’s story.

At 1:20, only twenty minutes after talking to Lance the first time, I sent him this picture. That is how much snow came down in just that short amount of time.

Since Sam was so sick I wouldn’t let him go outside but Reese couldn’t wait to check it all out. She played for a while by herself. She made a snow angel, spun in circles, tasted some snow, attempted the sled on the driveway, and got really cold.

At one point I had put the boys to bed and Reese was having some girl time with me and Amy, Reese looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “We shouldn’t have done all of that stuff at school.” When I asked her what she meant she said they did stuff that was going to make it snow but it just made the roads bad so Daddy couldn’t get home. It was heartbreaking and I assured her that only God could make it snow like that and she couldn’t do anything to change it. I think it made her feel better.

Long, long, long story short, Lance didn’t make it home that night and Amy and her baby spent the night with us. After Lance had been in the car for about nine hours, a friend from our old church called him to see where he was because her husband had gotten stuck and had a hotel room. He was at West Paces Ferry and there was no way he was going to make it as far as her husband had. She told him to hold on and she might be able to get him connected with some one she knew. Thankfully he had gotten off the interstate at West Paces Ferry as she called because she had a friend who lived a mile from there. Lance and his carpool buddy were able to park his car and walk a mile to the house. They stayed the night on the floor of the living room on some outdoor furniture cushions because there was a house full of people staying there. I was so happy to have him out of the car and somewhere safe and warm.

This morning Lance decided to attempt the trek home. After talking to a neighbor who had gotten stuck in the same area as Lance he figured they could make it. And they did!! It took them a little over two hours but it was so exciting to see him walk up in the backyard. He had to park his car at the ballpark and walk through the woods because there were no cars that could make it in to the entrance of our neighborhood.

Amy was also able to get home this morning. A neighbor from her neighborhood offered to come and get her. Unfortunately even in a four wheel drive truck he still couldn’t make it up the first hill in the neighborhood. Thankfully there were some people driving around on their ATV and he asked for their help. They drove to our house and picked her up to take her back to the truck. It was an adventure for sure!!

As Lance was walking up this afternoon, the big kids and I were headed outside to play. Sam only lasted about three minutes because he felt so bad. Reese got in a few trips down the hill on the sled before deciding to go back in too. Oh well!

It definitely hasn’t been the type of snow days we were hoping for but I just kept telling myself it could be so much worse. There were thousands of kids who were stuck at schools because their parents were stuck on the road. I know I would have been a wreck if that was my case so I was so thankful to have all of my kids at home with me.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

We had a fun and busy weekend. It was nice to have Monday with everyone home too. As soon as Reese got off the bus on Friday we started the fun. We got in the car and headed to Sky Zone, an indoor trampoline park. We met a couple of Sam’s friends from class there and the kids had a blast! Sam was super excited to get to do something special with his friends outside of school. The pictures are not so great from my iPhone but you get the idea.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early to take Reese to a cheer camp at KSU. She did this camp last year and couldn’t wait to do it again. Last year she did the dance part of camp but this year she chose to do the cheer part. She said she wanted to do it because they got to do stunts but they ended up not doing stunts. She said she had a lot of fun.

After I dropped Reese off, I came back home to get Sam. I had promised him some alone time. We had breakfast at CFA and then went to spend one of his Christmas gift cards at Target.

After the camp the little kids performed with the cheerleaders and dancers during halftime of the girls basketball game.

Unfortunately I didn’t get to see her perform because that morning Hayes had a fever and was so crabby. He cried for about an hour straight. Finally I changed his diaper while we were sitting on my bed. After I changed him, I let him lay there and rubbed his belly. He eventually fell asleep but only slept for about 45 minutes. A little while later we put him down for a nap and he slept for almost four hours. I had to wake him up because I wanted to check on him. After the game, Reese fell asleep in the car on the way home. When Lance pulled in to the garage he left her in there and she slept for another 30 minutes or so. Once she came inside she laid on the couch and didn’t move again the rest of the day. It turned out she had a fever too.

Sunday morning, Reese, Hayes, and I all stayed home from church. They both woke up fever-free and were feeling much better. We took it easy most of the day while Lance took Sam out for some more alone time after church. I painted Reese’s fingers and toes, played with her hair, she played with mine, and we put bows in Hayes’ hair. Ha! He took another really long nap that afternoon.

Sunday night Lance and I had our first community group meeting with a group from our new church. We have a couple of friends in that group and it was great getting to meet some new people. The kids stayed home with the babysitter and seemed to all enjoy their evening together.

Monday everyone felt great so we got up and moving. It was a beautiful day! We started our morning off with a CFA breakfast (again) and then we went to Academy Sports to buy Reese new soccer cleats, shin guards, and socks. Then we headed home to pack up a lunch so we could go hiking at the mountain.

The big kids did so great. They loved climbing on the rocks.

We hiked all the way to the top. We have never done that before because we always have the stroller and you can’t push it to the top. This time we borrowed a friends backpack carrier for Hayes and it was perfect. He did so great in it.

It really was a gorgeous day. You could see all the way to Atlanta and you could watch airplanes land at the airport near by. We ate our picnic lunch at the top while we took a break.

There were so many people there too! We saw several families that we know on our way back down.

After our hike we let Hayes out in the field to run around and explore. Of course, he loved that but just couldn’t stay away from the stairs near by. Ugh! He is always in to something.

We were so proud of the kids for making it all the way to the top and back. Now we are on the hunt for our own backpack carrier!

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Oh Frozen! It's a good thing your songs are cute because they are constantly in my head. I do love listening to Sam sing this song though. It is precious. I need to record him so I can remember it. I secretly love "Let It Go". I just love hearing Idina Menzel sing it...it sounds just like songs from Wicked.

Reese heard that there was a possibility of snow today. As I was walking her to the bus this morning she looked at me and said, "Promise me you will play in the snow today if it snows!" It was so sweet. I told her if there was enough snow to play in she would be at home to play in it with us too. It was a sweet little conversation.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

This boy! He is trouble! He is all boy! He gives me a run for my money.

When Reese and Sam were little, if I said no to them they would immediately cry. Hayes looks at me and does it again! He is not scared of me in the slightest.

He wants to do everything Sam and Reese are doing. Shortly after this picture he was standing up on the ottoman and jumping.

The stairs! Oh the stairs! He loves the stairs…but they don’t love him too much. We have been working really hard on them recently though so he will be better with them. And backpacks…he loves backpacks. If they are empty. Otherwise he tips over.

He is not scared of much. If there is a loud noise and someone else reacts to it, he will cry but that is about it.

He is a climber.

He can climb on things I didn’t even know he could climb on.

This is two separate days. I ended up turning the chair upside down one day because he wouldn’t stay out of the chair. He pitched such a big fit that I put him in time out in the highchair. Most of the time he will listen to Lance when he tells him no.

He has actually received a pop on his hiney because he just won’t listen and he is doing something that is dangerous.

He thinks it is so funny when Lance sticks him up on top of the car. He loves to sit up there and look around. Every time I put him in the car he grunts and points to the roof but I can’t reach that far. He gets so mad and pitches a fit while I put him in his car seat.

He sleeps like an angel though. It makes me forget all the trouble he has given me through out the day. When I rock him before bed he is so sweet and I just love those moments.

And because I keep forgetting to put this picture on here. That is Hayes on the left and my mom on the right. Look at those matching smiles! Too funny! That is how Hayes smiles in every picture…if he is smiling because he is always very serious in his pictures.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Well, we have one more unexpected day at home today after the winter break from school. Because it is so cold, school was canceled.

The kids got out of school the Friday before Christmas. That weekend was busy with the visit of our friends from out of town and a sleepover. Lance worked that Monday and then took the next two weeks off of work. We decided that we wanted to make the most of our time with him home. It was a great balance of having fun and getting some things done around the house.

The Friday after Christmas we went to ride the Pink Pig at Lenox mall. It was something we hadn’t done yet for the season so we went after Christmas hoping the lines weren’t too long. It turned out to be more popular than I thought it would be but not too bad.

This was Lance and Hayes’ first time riding the Pink Pig. It might have been Lance’s last time too. Ha!

That evening we met some friends for a walk at the mountain and then had them back to our house for pizza and a movie night. It is always fun when last minute plans work out that way.

Sunday, after church, we headed to my parents house to have Christmas with them and my sisters. It was a nice relaxing day with family.

The next couple of days we spent cleaning up Christmas stuff. On New Year’s Eve we took the family bowling. Reese had been begging to do this because they learned about bowling in PE the last couple of weeks before school was out. We weren’t sure what to expect but it turned out to be so much fun.

We got to the bowling alley before they opened so we were one of the first people in there.

We had bumpers and a ramp for the kids to use. They really enjoyed getting to knock the pins down and were pretty competitive.

This little guy hung out in the stroller and did pretty well considering it was his nap time.

We celebrated New Year’s by having friends over to watch football on New Year’s Day.

That weekend Lance and I were supposed to go to Charleston but made a last minute change in our plans. Some of my cousins were unexpectedly going to be in town and my dad’s family was celebrating Christmas on Saturday. The thought of not getting to be there with all of them made me so sad so I asked Lance if we could just stay in town. He kindly agreed so we got to spend Saturday afternoon and evening with family.

Sunday we went to church and then had some friends over to play. Sunday night the kids heard that there was a possibility of snow. Someone at church told Reese that if she slept with her pajamas on inside out and backwards, put ice in the toilet, and put a spoon under her pillow that it would snow. Both kids did this and then woke up to no snow Monday morning.

Yesterday was Lance’s first day back to work and was going to be our last day home before it was back to school. During breakfast we talked about how the pajamas, etc didn’t help make it snow. The kids blamed it on me because I didn’t participate. While I was trying to straighten the house up for some friends to come over, it started snowing. It was just flurries but there were tons of them for about two hours. The kids immediately wanted to go outside so I bundled them up. They were so happy.

Reese and Sam were running around outside like it was the best thing ever…

…while Hayes whined at the window watching them.

I finally gave in to him and took him outside to check it all out. He LOVES being outside.

It was a huge fight to get him back inside and there may or may not have been a huge temper tantrum when we were finally inside.

For the rest of the day, the big kids played so well together while I got to visit with my college roommate.

After getting one more morning of sleeping in, the kids are playing well while we all try to stay warm in this five degree temperature. Tomorrow we will officially be back to school. I am a little sad about that but I think everyone is ready to get back in to our routine again.